AMNE study notes
Example questions
Which Homeric Hymn describes the conception of Aeneas?
Homeric Hymn 5- To Aphrodite
According to Ovid, why is the peacock’s tail the way it is?
In his Metamorphoses, Io was a mortal woman who caught the eye of Zeus,
whom he turned into a white cow to protect her from the wrath of his wife,
Hera. Hera set the 100-eyed giant Argos to watch over the cow. Zeus then
sent Hermes to slay Argos to save help Io. After Argos was slain, Hera took
his many eyes and put them on the feathers of the peacock, which was her
sacred bird.
Is Dionysus an Olympian god? Why or why not?
Why: He has many common elements with the other Olympian gods (spheres
of influence such as wine, ecstasy, fertility, theater etc; as well as a
widespread cult worshipped throughout the Greek world)
Why not: He is Hemitheoi as although his father Zeus provides legitimacy in
the sense that he does have divine patronage, his mother Semele is a
mortal. The nature of his birth is a kind of liminality as he was carried to term
sewn in Zeus’ thigh, making his origin not entirely mortal but not purely
divine either. Furthermore, some myths portray Dionysus as a foreign deity
who brings a new and strange religion to the Greek world. This "otherness"
was sometimes viewed with suspicion or as something distinct from the
traditional Olympian pantheon, which is why his inclusion among the
Olympians is contested.
Euripides depicts Dionysos as the force of the Outside (an outsider) and as
especially associated with Thebes (first place in Greece arrived to + family
ties)
Discuss, with examples, the importance of tragedy as a source for
Greek myth.
Myth is a cloud, composed of many different variations of tellings from over
the ages. Tragedy, for example, is one source vital for Greek mythology.
Tragedy was a wide oracular practice throughout Greece, an essential
method of preservation and transmission especially considering the vast
,majority of people were illiterate. Tragedy also deepened their significance
by focusing on the personal and social consequences of mythological
actions, reinterpreting well-known stories and by exploring new dimensions
of mythological themes. For example, in Sophocles’ "Oedipus Rex, Sophocles
doesn’t just tell the story of tragic fate but also explores the tension between
free will and destiny. The prophecy that Oedipus will kill his father and marry
his mother is central, but Sophocles emphasizes Oedipus’s efforts to avoid
the prophecy and the disastrous consequences of those efforts. The tragedy
highlights the tension between human agency and the will of the gods, a key
theme in Greek myth. The exploration of blindness and sight in the play adds
layers of meaning, reflecting both the literal and figurative blindness of
Oedipus to his true identity.
Tragedy often places its characters in situations where they must choose
between conflicting values, forcing the audience to confront difficult moral
questions. These situations are sometimes rooted in myth but explore the
broader implications of those myths in terms of ethical choices. In Euripides’
Hippolytus, the myth of Phaedra’s forbidden love for her stepson Hippolytus
is recast as a tragedy of moral and emotional conflict. The myth addresses
themes of chastity, desire, and honor. Euripides presents Hippolytus as a
character devoted to Artemis and chastity, while Phaedra is trapped in a
morally complex situation of shame and love. The gods, particularly
Aphrodite, manipulate the characters’ lives in this tragedy, and the moral
dilemmas faced by the characters reflect the complex relationships between
gods, mortals, and human desires. Greek tragedy often delves into the
tension between human actions and divine will, examining how the gods
influence the fate of mortals. This reflects a central aspect of Greek
mythology—gods often have the power to shape human lives, but humans
are also responsible for their own actions, which can provoke divine wrath. In
the myth of Sophacle’s Antigone, her defiance of King Creon’s order not to
bury her brother Polynices is central. The tragedy explores the conflict
between familial duty and state law, as well as the tension between human
and divine law. Antigone believes that the gods' laws regarding burial rites
are paramount, and her act of defiance against Creon is framed as an
assertion of divine justice. The play touches on the consequences of divine
laws vs. human laws, with both Antigone and Creon suffering tragic fates
because they each adhere inflexibly to their respective convictions.
Antigone’s actions echo themes from earlier myths but reframe them to
question the role of law, justice, and the divine in human life.
Athena: gorgon’s head on chest, weapons
, Apollo: lyre, bow, laurel wreath, tripod, youth
Dionysos: pinecone staff, ivy, grapes, vines
Cadmus: shield, spear, big pokey hat
Heracles: lion’s skin, club, arrows
Hermes: travelers hat, caduceus, winged sandals
The 3 Panhellenic events
1. Calydonian boar hunt
King Oeneus of Calydon failed to honor Artemis in a sacrifice to the gods, which
angered the goddess. In retaliation, Artemis sent a massive, ferocious boar to devastate
the region's crops and farmland. The boar was so large and destructive that it became a
menace to the people of Calydon.
To rectify his mistake and protect his people, King Oeneus organized a great hunt to kill
the boar. He invited many of the most famous heroes of Greek mythology to join the hunt
such as Theseus, Perseus, Jason, Castor, Pollux, Meleager, Atalanta. Atalanta (the
only woman) was the first to injure the boar (breaking of trad gender roles). Quarrels
after defeating the boar of how the spoils should be split- Meleager vs his uncles ->
Meleager death
2. Voyage of the Argo(nauts)
Jason (kinda the most useless icl) sent by his uncle to retrieve the
golden fleece. assembled a group of famous heroes,
including Heracles, Orpheus, Atalanta, Theseus, Castor and
Pollux, among others. These heroes, known as the Argonauts, sailed
aboard the Argo, a ship built by Argus and blessed by the gods. They
sailed basically across the known Greek world and faced numerous
side-quests on the way and on the way home that they had to deal
with.
3. Trojan war
Trojan horse, tricking the Romans prophecy. Harsh treatment of the city
while it is being conquered (most profound is little Ajax). The gods
supporting both sides- the gods also fighting each other (when the
gods get involved in mortal conflict it amplifies so much more).
We have both the Roman and Greek POV of the war
Example questions
Which Homeric Hymn describes the conception of Aeneas?
Homeric Hymn 5- To Aphrodite
According to Ovid, why is the peacock’s tail the way it is?
In his Metamorphoses, Io was a mortal woman who caught the eye of Zeus,
whom he turned into a white cow to protect her from the wrath of his wife,
Hera. Hera set the 100-eyed giant Argos to watch over the cow. Zeus then
sent Hermes to slay Argos to save help Io. After Argos was slain, Hera took
his many eyes and put them on the feathers of the peacock, which was her
sacred bird.
Is Dionysus an Olympian god? Why or why not?
Why: He has many common elements with the other Olympian gods (spheres
of influence such as wine, ecstasy, fertility, theater etc; as well as a
widespread cult worshipped throughout the Greek world)
Why not: He is Hemitheoi as although his father Zeus provides legitimacy in
the sense that he does have divine patronage, his mother Semele is a
mortal. The nature of his birth is a kind of liminality as he was carried to term
sewn in Zeus’ thigh, making his origin not entirely mortal but not purely
divine either. Furthermore, some myths portray Dionysus as a foreign deity
who brings a new and strange religion to the Greek world. This "otherness"
was sometimes viewed with suspicion or as something distinct from the
traditional Olympian pantheon, which is why his inclusion among the
Olympians is contested.
Euripides depicts Dionysos as the force of the Outside (an outsider) and as
especially associated with Thebes (first place in Greece arrived to + family
ties)
Discuss, with examples, the importance of tragedy as a source for
Greek myth.
Myth is a cloud, composed of many different variations of tellings from over
the ages. Tragedy, for example, is one source vital for Greek mythology.
Tragedy was a wide oracular practice throughout Greece, an essential
method of preservation and transmission especially considering the vast
,majority of people were illiterate. Tragedy also deepened their significance
by focusing on the personal and social consequences of mythological
actions, reinterpreting well-known stories and by exploring new dimensions
of mythological themes. For example, in Sophocles’ "Oedipus Rex, Sophocles
doesn’t just tell the story of tragic fate but also explores the tension between
free will and destiny. The prophecy that Oedipus will kill his father and marry
his mother is central, but Sophocles emphasizes Oedipus’s efforts to avoid
the prophecy and the disastrous consequences of those efforts. The tragedy
highlights the tension between human agency and the will of the gods, a key
theme in Greek myth. The exploration of blindness and sight in the play adds
layers of meaning, reflecting both the literal and figurative blindness of
Oedipus to his true identity.
Tragedy often places its characters in situations where they must choose
between conflicting values, forcing the audience to confront difficult moral
questions. These situations are sometimes rooted in myth but explore the
broader implications of those myths in terms of ethical choices. In Euripides’
Hippolytus, the myth of Phaedra’s forbidden love for her stepson Hippolytus
is recast as a tragedy of moral and emotional conflict. The myth addresses
themes of chastity, desire, and honor. Euripides presents Hippolytus as a
character devoted to Artemis and chastity, while Phaedra is trapped in a
morally complex situation of shame and love. The gods, particularly
Aphrodite, manipulate the characters’ lives in this tragedy, and the moral
dilemmas faced by the characters reflect the complex relationships between
gods, mortals, and human desires. Greek tragedy often delves into the
tension between human actions and divine will, examining how the gods
influence the fate of mortals. This reflects a central aspect of Greek
mythology—gods often have the power to shape human lives, but humans
are also responsible for their own actions, which can provoke divine wrath. In
the myth of Sophacle’s Antigone, her defiance of King Creon’s order not to
bury her brother Polynices is central. The tragedy explores the conflict
between familial duty and state law, as well as the tension between human
and divine law. Antigone believes that the gods' laws regarding burial rites
are paramount, and her act of defiance against Creon is framed as an
assertion of divine justice. The play touches on the consequences of divine
laws vs. human laws, with both Antigone and Creon suffering tragic fates
because they each adhere inflexibly to their respective convictions.
Antigone’s actions echo themes from earlier myths but reframe them to
question the role of law, justice, and the divine in human life.
Athena: gorgon’s head on chest, weapons
, Apollo: lyre, bow, laurel wreath, tripod, youth
Dionysos: pinecone staff, ivy, grapes, vines
Cadmus: shield, spear, big pokey hat
Heracles: lion’s skin, club, arrows
Hermes: travelers hat, caduceus, winged sandals
The 3 Panhellenic events
1. Calydonian boar hunt
King Oeneus of Calydon failed to honor Artemis in a sacrifice to the gods, which
angered the goddess. In retaliation, Artemis sent a massive, ferocious boar to devastate
the region's crops and farmland. The boar was so large and destructive that it became a
menace to the people of Calydon.
To rectify his mistake and protect his people, King Oeneus organized a great hunt to kill
the boar. He invited many of the most famous heroes of Greek mythology to join the hunt
such as Theseus, Perseus, Jason, Castor, Pollux, Meleager, Atalanta. Atalanta (the
only woman) was the first to injure the boar (breaking of trad gender roles). Quarrels
after defeating the boar of how the spoils should be split- Meleager vs his uncles ->
Meleager death
2. Voyage of the Argo(nauts)
Jason (kinda the most useless icl) sent by his uncle to retrieve the
golden fleece. assembled a group of famous heroes,
including Heracles, Orpheus, Atalanta, Theseus, Castor and
Pollux, among others. These heroes, known as the Argonauts, sailed
aboard the Argo, a ship built by Argus and blessed by the gods. They
sailed basically across the known Greek world and faced numerous
side-quests on the way and on the way home that they had to deal
with.
3. Trojan war
Trojan horse, tricking the Romans prophecy. Harsh treatment of the city
while it is being conquered (most profound is little Ajax). The gods
supporting both sides- the gods also fighting each other (when the
gods get involved in mortal conflict it amplifies so much more).
We have both the Roman and Greek POV of the war
